Arts & Culture

During the Vietnam War, few people had an experience quite like Boise resident Dave Frazier. He served as a public relations specialist for the Traffic Management Agency (TMA) of the Military Assistance Command, the military outfit in charge of moving supplies, equipment and people around Vietnam by land, sea and air. In his PR role, Frazier traveled throughout Vietnam taking pictures and writing stories about the work of the TMA while fighting was going on around the country.

Frazier tells the story in his new memoir “Drafted! Vietnam at War and Peace.”

The fourth annual Sun Valley Film Festival begins Wednesday. The five-day event will show off some Hollywood names, including giving a special honor to actor Clint Eastwood. Other big screen elites will make appearances, including actor Bruce Dern and two Academy Award winning screenwriters.

U.S. Census Bureau data analyzed by Reuters show which American counties have the largest share of same-sex households. Based on the 2010 Census, north Idaho's Benewah County has more same-sex households per 1,000 residents than any other Idaho county.

Benewah's 2010 population was 9,285. According to the 2014 Census estimate, total population has actually declined since then by 241 people.

Boise’s skyline has morphed over time, as buildings from early in the last century made way for newer, more modern structures. Those changes were captured in picture postcards and have been published in a new book.

Frank Aden Junior is an amateur Boise historian and a member of the Idaho Historical Society. His interest in Boise history grew out of his hobby of collecting old picture postcards that showed the city from different locations.

The United Nations has declared Friday World Radio Day in celebration of radio's unique status as a "simple and inexpensive" technology with the power to reach even the most remote, marginalized communities.

But we wondered — in this digital age, how hard is it to find a simple, inexpensive radio?

Our journey took us to several stores in Washington, D.C., in search of a portable and affordable radio, as well as to the National Capital Radio and Television Museum in Bowie, Md.

For the fourth-straight year, Meridian chef Rich Brown won the top prize at the Idaho state snow sculpting competition in McCall, creating a 14-foot circus elephant in just three days.

The McCall competition is one of two sculpting contests held at the winter carnival each year. Local businesses host a themed contest, the state competition is later in the week. Brown took part in both and picked up first prize in the state competition.

He and his two teammates chose to sculpt a circus elephant. "It turned out very well," says Brown.

Organizers of Treefort Music Fest rolled out their third and final band announcement Friday morning, and it's a doozy of a list. The annual live music festival will go down at multiple venues in downtown Boise March 25-29.

The Treefort Film Fest is prepping to bring a diverse batch of movies to Boise March 25-29. As part of the annual Treefort Music Fest, the multi-day event will highlight indie short and feature films that don't get a lot of mainstream attention.

Earlier this week, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held a rare press conference announcing their support of laws that would protect gay and transgender people from discrimination while still safeguarding religious freedom.

For three weeks this winter, Samantha Martin spent her days inside a freezing-cold house ripping apart the walls, doors, and windows. She was salvaging whatever she could because the house was set for demolition.

Martin and her group Buffalo Heart Homes have been trying for two years to save a group of historic homes in downtown Boise.

It was a photo contest by the people and for the people of Ada County. The goal was to highlight the parks and waterways managed by Ada County, and to encourage people to get out and enjoy that landscape.

"We were blown away" by what people sent in, says Scott Koberg, Director of Ada County Parks and Waterways.

For the ninth year in a row, Utah residents are number one, in terms of volunteering their time.

Utah ranks number one on the annual, “Volunteering and Civic Life in America Report,” put out by the federal government. Close to 45 percent of Utahns volunteer, and they contribute about 155 million hours of service.

Ballet Idaho and the Boise Philharmonic are bringing live music back to the Christmastime favorite “The Nutcracker.”

Ballet Idaho’s Artistic Director Peter Anastos is also the choreographer of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker." He says the two organizations have worked together in the past, but a financial crunch last year meant Ballet Idaho had to use a CD for the performance.

The US Department of State pledged to lead the world in accepting refugees from Syria at a meeting in Geneva this month. The organization says it is currently reviewing about 9,000 UNHCR referrals from Syria and is receiving approximately a thousand new referrals each month. A Boise refugee support organization anticipates many of those people will come to Idaho.

The agency that oversees Idaho's highways spent part of Tuesday taking a trip down Memory Lane.

The Idaho Transportation Department opened a time capsule buried in Boise in 1989. The 3-foot piece of conduit had been glued shut and buried near the department's East Annex. The burial was part of a dedication of a grove of trees given to the state by the University of Idaho.

The contents included newspapers of the era, license plates, advertisements and more.

Just two days after the indie music festival was named the City of Boise's cultural ambassador for 2015 -- a title that comes with a $25,000 grant -- the first list of bands to play the March 25-29 festival has arrived.